Secrecy...within the workshop?

" SWMBO has absolutely no idea what goes on in my workshop nor the value of the strange parcels that our overworked postman frequently hauls down the garden path to the front door! "

Exactly and, whats more, if I comment on something I see in the mag or on line she will say " why don't you get it!"

Very cunning of course because I then feel duty bound to indulge her evry whim and fancy!

Norman

I'm amazed at your naivety chaps. I don't have a workshop and strongly recommend that you don't have one either...

Cheers,

Dave

Secrecy ?? what's that ??

Couple of months ago very excited girlfriend steams in with a parcel saying look what I've just 'won' on Ebay and proceed to unwrap a pristine set of carbide grade 1 metric slip gauges to add to the imperial set she already owns.

Then spends an evening cleaning and calibrating all the metric micrometers she can find.

The knack is to make sure the distaff side of the family have an account with Very. It's quite easy to lose extra parcels in the tide of parcels going back and forth.

Unfortunately this can prove to be an expensive strategy.

Neil

Back in the early 1960's when I was an apprentice one of my mentors motto was " knowledge withheld is knowledge lost "

Very true ! John

I think a big change in the work place, is the skilled/time served, have been replaced by people with very limited experience. This new breed of worker, knows everything and needs to be shown nothing! (at least until they are stood looking at yet another batch of scrap parts that they know nothing of).

Years ago, information and experience were freely shared, and much appreciated. Now its all young/inexperienced people telling how to do my job.

Charts not parts.....

Where on earth does one find a girlfriend like that? Must be more to living at Bodger's Lodge than meets the eye.

ooops Double post. Too much excitement just thinking about a girlfriend who appreciates a good set of slip gauges.

Edited By Hopper on 22/06/2016 08:52:59

Thats impossible, a girlfriend who's fond of engineering? Preposterous! Unless you created one like frankenstein's monster ("It's allivve!!" ) This doesn't naturally occur very often, and you should count your lucky stars for being gifted with this.

Anyway, It's good to hear that most people have benefited from wisdom handed down and in engineering secrecy is a rare thing and often met with bemusement, as if almost a selfish trait.

I don't have to worry about prying eyes for deliveries as my folks are used to me buying materials and small tools, it's just the big stuff i have to be quiet about. I'm not allowed to play with oxy/acetaline for e.g :'(

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 22/06/2016 23:13:15

.

.

Very fortunate guy and also very grateful guy, Debs is a very private person and I'd get hung for telling stories but here's a taster.

Deb's kitchen.

She's had to fit the CNC mill and lathe here as her bedroom has all her train stuff.

wow, I'd say

.

That's very smart

'Ordinary' women use cookie-cutters !

MichaelG.

Well John - congratulations to Deb! I can see that she is far better organised than you and, what's more, she has carefully thought through the workshop process . What a good idea to site the equipment next to the washing machine so overalls can be processed instantly at the end of the day! I trust that she insists that you too up your game in the organisation department !

Norman

Debs has clearly got a lot to learn. I mean you can still see the lathe and mill. Tell her to get her finger out, she can fit loads more broken drills, old tins, bits of swarf etc, on that bench.

David.

It's just a shame she doesn't persuade John to install a dishwasher in the Bodger's Lodge

Neil

I wonder if there is a dishwasher in the crate that's just been delivered from China.

All it says on the crate is John and Debs new toy............................

Edited By John Stevenson on 23/06/2016 23:23:44

Well I've heard of fighting to use the Bathroom in the morning, but fighting to use the Mill must be something else!

Edit, I must learn to type and post much faster.

Edited By V8Eng on 23/06/2016 23:28:22

There seems to be enormous secrecy regarding circuit diagrams (i.e. motor speed controllers). Back in the 70:s just about every piece of electronic kit was accompanied by a circuit diagram. Even my transistor radio had a diagram on the inside of the case. Now, you can trawl the internet for information, and unless someone has traced the circuit board and posted the diagram, you will be unsuccessful. I can only assume that the manufacturers would rather you purchased a new PCB than repair the faulty one, So much for recvcling!

Yes, Knights - the handbooks that came with new cars in the 1960s and 70s had circuit diagrams, too. I remember owning a Fiat which had a well-translated handbook, but the circuit diagram was in Italian. However, it was easy to follow if you learned the Italian words for colours. The worst were some BMC wiring looms, because if the workers making them up ran out of one colour they used any other colour that was different to the rest on the particular circuit. However, in that era you didn't have to have a degree in electronics to understand the simple circuits in the average car.

And don't forget at least two motorbikes from the land of the rising Yen that hit our shores and never lasted long enough to import spares.

With regards to electronic (or any other) repairs, how do you ensure the minimum wage payment by allowing simplicity to be reflected in costs? Thirty odd years ago, an O-ring fitted to the HP pump of the trick suspension system of my car cost 10p - and then £25 for fitting. I bought a Haynes then - - -

Regards Ian.

Edited By Circlip on 24/06/2016 09:45:24